PLANET MIATA Recap of Round 6 & 7 of the TeamDI pro IT Series at NJMP

by  Mike Cefalo

Arrival and FridayPractice

The PLANET MIATA Team was back to NJ Motorsports Park for the TeamDI Pro IT Series Round 6 & 7.  The best place to start this story is with the weather. We arrived Thursday night in a light rain and by Friday morning several inches of rain had fallen. The Rain collected to a depth of several inches at the entrance to the track, it was up to he middle of the hub caps on the car. The kids gave me an old Saturn station wagon to drive  this week and I didn't want to get stuck, so I was real careful not to stall the thing out in the water. The place we parked the race trailer was on fairly high ground, but by Saturday the paddock where we were was OK but the rest of the place was a sea of mud. 

The first practice session of Friday was fun, with lots of rain falling, lots of water on the track and lots of cars spinning off the track into the mud. The track became treacherous because oil that was also on the track from cars leaking oil tried to mix with the water. When they say oil and water don't mix they are right, especially on a race track.In the first practice I was the first one to hit the water/oil and did I take a wild ride, I  flew off the track on a corner and rode the grass for at least 70 yards until I got the car somewhat straight. The cars were  skating around so much  that if you were in your street  car you would pull over and walk.
 
THE RACE ON SATURDAY
 
The TeamDI Pro IT Round 6 Race on Saturday was a mud feast! There was mud all over the place, even inside of the car.  The race started in the rain and then as the track began to dry out, some of the cars slid off the tack in the wet spots,  The mud flew as the cars came back on the track.  Mud was all over the cars, the windshield and with some cars having a side vent for air the mud came thru the air duct on to your helmet visor making it that much harder to see( I'm talking about me).  Many of us went out on rain tires (these tires have deep grooves to push the water out of he way) while other drivers used race tires ( these tire are smoother so as they heat up they have more grip), but in the rain they are tough because they are bald and can't get rid of the water on the racing surface. All the time you gain with rain tires when it is raining you lose if the rain stops and the track dries out..you guessed it, that's exactly what happened, the rain stopped and the guys on race ties gained space, but lost most of it when the track dried.  I started 9th and finished 9th. gaining several spot during the rain and losing them all when the rain stopped, but it was fun while it lasted. Marc blew the ITA field away,In ITA ,his class, he was so far out front...the race was a run away. I knew he put on one heck of a show as many fans after the race came to the trailer to ask who  driver of double zero car .  When I asked why, they chimed in that guy must have been a dirt track racer...he had the car sideways all the time. Marc is one of the best drivers in the rain. {mutlithumb}

The races this weekend were sponsored by the South Jersey AFL-CIO Building Trades and comprised of the TeamDI Pro IT Series, the VW TDI Cup, a Historic Stock car series, and an ARCA race which is a starter series of NASCAR  drivers. The VW TDI cup are all young drivers who pay almost $45,000 to Volkswagen to drive the cars, plus they are responsible for all the damage they cause to the car, plus all their travel expenses. This was a great opportunity for SCCA to show it's stuff.  There were thousands of people there to watch they and got to see regular cars compete, Nissans, Mazda's, BMW's, and Volkswagens. The people were not disappointed as the Saturday race was run in the rain and then in the Sun on Sunday...and neither were the racers disappointed as they all like big crowds.  
 
THE RACE ON SUNDAY 

The race started at 9:00  AM sharp. The organizers of the event gave each of us an American flag to waive for the first of two pace laps (this weekend was the 8th anniversary of 9-11) .The weather for a change was beautiful, the track dry and the crowd large for that time of day. As the field formed for the green flag,all eyes are on the starter high above the track in the starter's booth, as he waived the green flag every car is accelerating, the cars were 4 and 5 wide as we came to the first corner, some cars going in excess of 90 MPH at this point, then all you see is a sea of brake lights, some tire smoke and everyone getting in line to make the turn,all 50 cars made it without an incident. a few hundred yards later after climbing a small hill there is a second right hand turn, that is blind and off camber, meaning the road falls away from you. The cars at this point are still bumper to bumper, literally. The track then straightens out, you're in 4th gear now at full power going a little over 100 MPH, you go down a slight hill, then make a slight right turn called a kink, from here the road goes slightly down hill to a dip in the road then up a slight hill to a much slower corner. The cars are still all bunched together as you turn right along a set of bleachers to screaming fans(at least you hope their screaming...we were as we watched other races Saturday). You then brake hard for a sharp left hand turn , then a right turn, then another right hand turn. Depending on the traffic around you, your're shifting from 4th gear to 3rd gear then back to 4th gear, then back to 3rd gear if necessary, at least in our Spec Miata's you have to shif that many times.. At  this point the track turns sharply right, and I I  mean sharply, then sharply left and I mean sharply (we call this turn the octopus), others call it the Jersey Devil. Whatever they call it, the turns are tough because they lead to the longest acceleration zone. The acceleration zone is a few "S" turns and then a sweeping right turn down the front straight. That's a Lap on the Thunderbolt track in New Jersey.

Three of the PLANET MIATA team members had problems in this race . Marc got punted off the track and bent the rear fender. During a pit stop, Patch, the crew chief, had to pull the fender away from the tire. Marc finished second in class only nine seconds behind the first place car in his class. Marc also established a new track record during the race. After some 20 or so laps my transmission  jammed in 5th gear at the end of the front straight so I pulled in an escape road. I knew immediately I was done for the day.  Joe Diminno,  one of our team mates, pulled behind me as his car was over heating. The race went on for many more laps. Matt Rooke of Ridge Speed Racing beat Bob Driscoll of Autotechnic by a mere 2 seconds to win in the ITS class! Remember there were six different classes running all at the same time in this race. Bill Ball edged out Bob Nimkoff for the ITR class win. In Spec Miata (SM) it was Nick Leverone over Chris Kellett and Brian Cates. Brian's son was also racing that weekend at NJMP in the VW TDI Cup. In ITA it was Tim Kvana over a fast charging Marc Cefalo by 9 seconds. Ken Hubbard dueled Raymond Blethen IV for the ITB win, and Brian Heun won ITC  
 
THE HOT DOG SOCIAL

At the end of the TeamDI Pro IT races on Saturday and Sunday there was a "Hot dog social" put on by the group. It was fun to get together and socialize for awhile. Darryl Anthony, Terry Hanushek, Brian Holtz of SCCA along with Bill Etherington all helped. Special THANKS to Bill Etherington for teching our cars Friday in the rain. We all thank you Bill. The best cook of the day was JD King, one of the race chairmans for the race. He even had his mom eating his cooking! Walt Huber and I had a review of his writing for the South Jersey SCCA newsletter appropriately called  POLE POSITION. Walt's column is called "Huber's HASH." He writes really well, not only is it informative but entertaining as well.
 
Planet MIata is back with the TeamDI pro IT Seris for the the final two rounds on October 16-18 at NJ Motorsport Park. Marc and some of the team will go to Road Atlanta in November while I do duty at the SEMA show in Las Vegas.

Cars, Cars, I can't get enough!